Scott Mills shows in jeopardy after BBC sacking – from Eurovision to Race Across the World

As revelations about Scott Mills’ exit from the BBC continue to come to light, bosses are facing tough decisions about a number of projects the high-profile presenter was due to front.

The BBC announced on Monday (30 March) that presenter had been fired over “allegations about his personal conduct”. It later emerged that he was investigated by police in 2016 after claims of “serious sexual offences” against a teenage boy under 16 between 1997 and 2000, with the Crown Prosecution Service deeming there to be insufficient evidence to bring charges.

Mills, who is now 53 years old, landed his first job at Radio 1 in the late 1990s and spent more than 20 years at the station before making the switch to Radio 2 when he took over Steve Wright’s afternoon slot in 2022.

The host landed the highly-coveted breakfast show job in January 2025 and over the years, he’s also popped up on plenty of other BBC shows and special broadcasts.

After his abrupt exit, it wasn’t just the Radio 2 Breakfast Show that found itself down a presenter.

Here are all the projects – including a Channel 4 programme – which could also be in jeopardy…

Radio 2 Breakfast Show

The biggest gap created by Mills’ sudden exit is the space that’s opened up in the Radio 2 schedule.

Hosting the station’s breakfast show is one of the most prestigious – and highly-paid – presenting roles in the whole of the BBC. With 25 years of experience at the corporation, Mills was considered one of the safest pairs of hands in broadcasting when he took over the job from Zoe Ball in January last year. But bosses now face a scramble to replace him.

Mills last fronted the programme on Wednesday 25 March, when he signed off in his usual cheerful manner and told listeners he’d be back on air the following day. However, without explanation, he was replaced by Radio 2 stablemate Gary Davies, who has continued to host the show since.

According to the BBC’s online schedule, Davies will continue to front the breakfast show in the interim, with Radio 2’s late-night presenter OJ Borg also stepping in on a couple of occasions.

Both Borg and Davies are being touted as possible permanent replacements, alongside the likes of Vernon Kay, Dermot O’Leary and Sara Cox.

Eurovision

The BBC’s Eurovision coverage utilises a number of its best-known Radio 2 stars – with Mills at the centre of the team.

Last year, the breakfast show team decamped to Basel, Switzerland – where the contest was being held – for a week, and Mills provided commentary on the two semi-finals alongside Rylan Clark, who also fronted a Radio 2 show at the time.

While exact plans for this year’s song contest coverage had not been announced at the time of his sacking, the presenter was expected to once again play a key role. According to reports, drivetime host Sara Cox will take Mills’ place when Eurovision 2026 takes place in Vienna, Austria, in May.

Race Across the World: The Detour

Just a fortnight ago, the BBC announced that this year’s Race Across the World would be accompanied by a spin-off vodcast fronted by Mills – who won the 2024 celebrity series with his husband Sam Vaughan – and Alfie Watts, who triumphed in last year’s regular version.

After Mills’ exit from the BBC, The Detour hasn’t been axed and bosses have instead rushed to find someone else to join Watts to host the video podcast, according to Deadline. The show had been set to debut following Thursday (2 April) night’s series premiere. The Independent has contacted the BBC for comment.

Celebrity Bake Off

It’s not just the BBC that’s facing scheduling conundrums. Prior to the current headlines, Mills filmed an episode of Channel 4’s Celebrity Bake Off, which is due to air next month.

It is unclear if Channel 4 will go ahead with the broadcast or perhaps take a leaf out of Masterchef’s book by getting back in the edit suite to reduce Mills’ screen time. The Independent has contacted the BBC for comment.

EastEnders

In a clear signal of how safe Mills’ Radio 2 job was thought to be, the EastEnders team roped him in to make a cameo in a flash-forward episode set in January 2027.

For New Year’s Day 2026, soap bosses ripped up the rulebook and screened an episode set exactly a year later. In one scene, Mills could be heard sharing a message on Radio 2 for Max Branning, wishing him a happy wedding day from his son, Oscar.

The most likely course of action here is that the moment is simply cut from the EastEnders episode that airs on New Year’s Day next year.

Pop Top 10

Another of Mills’ Radio 2-adjacent projects is the Pop Top 10 podcast he’s fronted with Rylan Clark.

Each episode sees the pair joined by a celebrity guest, who helps them rank songs that fit in with a certain theme – think UK garage classics with Craig David, and ‘90s power ballads with Nadine Coyle.

Mills and Clark have so far presented two series of Pop Top 10 and the BBC previously announced that a third had been commissioned – but a question mark now hangs over the project, with the BBC set to decide whether to replace Mills or cancel it entirely.